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Inside The Bills

Being 18 days into free agency and still unsigned, it has to be a weird situation for Angelo Crowell. After making trips to visit with Detroit and Tampa, he’s now come back to visit Buffalo (the visit was Tuesday).

The linebacker was no doubt hoping that he would enter free agency on a high note, coming off some monster year in 2008 and perhaps even helping Buffalo get to the playoffs. All of that as we know was for naught as he opted for knee surgery.

Crowell likely knows that it’s his health that’s preventing NFL teams from signing him. Whether the knee is 100 percent right now is unknown, but with the market lukewarm to his services it leads one to a conclusion that he’s still not quite all the way back yet. And if that’s the case prospective teams will wonder if he’ll be the same productive player he had been prior to the injury and surgery.

Crowell is confident he can still play the game, but the linebacker may have to take a one-year “prove it” type contract, where he shows he can still get the job done. And if he does he stands to cash in come 2010, a potentially uncapped year.

It’s got to be a tough pill to swallow for a player that has put so much into his game and developed into a solid player. But the demanding nature this game has on the body often puts players on a different path than they originally saw for themselves.

It’s hard to say whether this visit means a signing is even a possibility. Three other FA LBs have visited and left. Could Crowell be different? Tell me what you think.